Tag Archives: Easter

Freshen up spring celebrations with these simple, sweet and vibrant lemon bars! Lemon bars are a classic American dessert composed of a shortbread crust topped with a simple, tangy lemon filling.

We’ve simplified the traditional recipe by using sweetened condensed milk. So once you make the crust, all you need to do is whisk together egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk, fresh lemon juice and lemon peel. It couldn’t be easier!

BEAT butter, powdered sugar and salt in large mixer bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in flour on low speed just until combined (mixture will be crumbly). Press dough onto bottom of prepared pan.

BAKE for 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly golden.

WHISK together egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice and lemon peel until smooth. Pour over crust. Bake for an additional 25 to 30 minutes or until set. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

REFRIGERATE for 2 hours or until firm. Using foil overhang, lift onto a work surface; cut into 20 bars. Dust with additional powdered sugar before serving. Squares will hold, covered, in refrigerator for up to 3 days.

A few tips:
If you make the bars in advance, don’t dust with powdered sugar. Only do this right before serving.

To produce really clean slices, place the baking pan with lemon bars in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes before cutting. Wipe the knife between cuts. If desired, trim away edges (I didn’t trim all the edges on the photo above, but I did freeze them).

For serving, place bars in individual paper cupcake liners. This way guests can easily help themselves and you don’t need to worry about dessert plates.

Like this:

I bet you get just as excited as I do during the holidays when you’re tasked with preparing the biggest, juiciest and most delicious ham. But now that Easter’s over and you’ve had about all the leftover ham sandwiches you can imagine… what are you going to do with all that delicious ham?

Soup is a classic way to eat up all your leftovers and this Ham-It-Up White Bean Soup will steal the show with all its delicious flavor. Easter is over, but for a lot of people, spring still feels a long way away, so why not warm up with a hot bowl of soup.

This is a great dish to feed a few straggling family members who might have overstayed their holiday welcome. The recipe calls for bacon, but sub in your leftover ham and you’ll be more than satisfied. Casseroles are excellent for their quick and easy one-dish preparation.

Savory and full of flavor, this quiche makes a great meal any time of year, especially Easter Sunday. Serve with fresh fruit for brunch or a simple salad for dinner. If you enjoy wine, pinot noir or even chardonnay pairs well with this quiche. It can be made a day in advance and reheated the day of so that you can truly enjoy all that the day has to offer.

A year or two ago I made chef Thomas Keller’s Over-The-Top Mushroom Quiche – well, not exactly. I made the filling according to his recipe, but used a premade crust (no judging, I’m a busy lady!). It was so incredibly good! I wanted to make it again, but wanted to lighten it up a bit.

The crust is made with quinoa – any color quinoa works. Carnation Evaporated Fat Free Milk is used in the filling, providing enough creaminess that heavy cream is not needed. It’s loaded with mushrooms – I used a combination of oyster, white button and cremini, but you can use whatever you have laying around. Fresh thyme adds such a nice fresh element of flavor but you can substitute 1 teaspoon of dried thyme if needed. Gruyère cheese and Fontina cheese are equally good so use the cheese you prefer.

A quick tip about springform pans and this recipe. You must line the bottom of the pan with foil or parchment paper otherwise the filling will leak out. Trust me on this. I purchased new springform pans for a recipe shoot we had at the White on Rice Studio. I proceeded to make the quiche in their studio and it leaked all over. I found it so odd because it didn’t do this with the springform pan I used to develop the recipe. Sweet Todd ran out and purchased two more pans and those leaked as well. I was so embarrassed! I had to think fast so I ended up lining the bottom of the pan with foil, and then secured the rim. This did the trick. The foil made for very easy clean up too!

Line the bottom of a 9- or 10-inch springform pan with foil or parchment paper (for visual reference, the quiche at the top of this post used a 10-inch pan, and the quiche the very bottom used a 9-inch pan). It’s best to use two sheets, crisscrossing the sheets. Place the side of the springform pan over the foil and close the latch. If using foil, fold the foil overhang up over the base of the pan. Spray inside of pan with cooking spray.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms; cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until they begin to soften. Reduce heat to medium; stir in shallots and thyme. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes or until mushrooms are tender. Season the mixture with salt and pepper.

Whisk eggs in large bowl; gradually whisk in evaporated milk. Season the mixture with salt and pepper.

Sprinkle half of the cheese over the crust.

Top with mushroom mixture.

Add egg mixture and remaining cheese.

Bake for 60 to 70 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

To serve, carefully loosen and lift side of springform pan. Gently peel away foil. If desired, transfer to serving plate using a spatula (it transfers easily!). Cut into wedges and serve.

Easter is right around the corner, so I thought I’d share my favorite spring lamb recipe! If you are having a few people over, this recipe is for you!

When it comes to recipes, I don’t “do” complicated. I just don’t. Perhaps when my kids are grown, I will change my tune. But, for now, I like keeping it simple, delicious and nutritious.

Take this recipe, for example. I am using a rack of lamb – not a crown roast or leg of lamb. All taste delicious, but a rack of lamb is hands down the easiest to prepare.

In the spirit of keeping it simple, I took a couple shortcuts with this recipe. I purchased the rack of lamb already frenched (more on that term later). I also used premade Buitoni pesto. Buitoni All Natural Pesto is really good, friends! There’s no need to make pesto from scratch – let Buitoni do the work for you. I did add a little fresh mint and lemon juice to the pesto – mint pairs so well with lamb and lemon adds a nice zing!

Back to the term “frenched”… this just means that the rib bones are exposed (see picture below). Most racks are packaged frenched. If they aren’t, you can ask your butcher to french them for you.

I usually buy Australian or New Zealand lamb from Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s or Costco – it’s a bit leaner and less expensive. One rack typically has 7 to 8 ribs, and this will feed 2 to 3 people. I’ve finally graduated to two racks for my family of five. (I was really taken back by how much my boys like lamb – very nice surprise!)

The cooking time depends on how bigyour rack of lamb is (most are packaged at 1 ½ pounds), and how rare you want it cooked. Rack of lamb should be cooked rare, or at most medium rare. The instructions I’ve provided are for two 1 1/2 pound racks (roast time is the same for one rack). Be sure to use a meat thermometer to check for doneness. I prefer it to register between 125-130° F which is on the rare side. Once it’s pulled out of the oven, as it rests, the temperature will continue to climb a few degrees.

If you have a large oven-proof skillet, it will work great with this recipe! If you don’t own one or are unsure if it’s oven-proof, simply sear the racks in the skillet you have, and then transfer them to a rimmed baking sheet that’s been lined with foil. The foil isn’t required, but it sure makes for easy clean up!

ALLOW lamb to come to room temperature for about 30 minutes before roasting. When it’s at room temperature, it will cook evenly. Season the lamb on all sides with salt and pepper.

PREHEAT oven to 400° F.

HEAT the oil in a large oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat. Place lamb racks, fat-side-down, in skillet; sear until browned (this should only take a few minutes – you just want them browned). Turn racks over and sear other side. At this point, I like to drain the oil from the skillet so it doesn’t spatter in the oven. Turn racks meat-side up; place skillet in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until thermometer placed in thickest portion registers 125-130° F (medium-rare). It’s best to check it at 15 minutes, especially if your oven runs hot.

TRANSFER lamb racks to a work surface and cover loosely with foil; let them rest for 10 minutes. Don’t skip this step – this is what makes the lamb so tender and juicy! Now is a good time to prepare the pesto sauce since it takes only a few minutes to put together.

COMBINE pesto, mint and water in medium bowl; stir well to combine. Stir in 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Taste and add 1 more tablespoon if you prefer more tang. You might question why I added water to the mixture. I wanted it to be a little thinner in consistency – it’s just a matter of preference. I love the tang the lemon juice provides, but didn’t want to add too much. I could have also added more oil, but I didn’t want to add the calories. So water it was!

Cut the lamb between the bones into single chops. The chops above are too done for my taste, but they are cooked to perfection for my kids. They like their lamb medium, and this was their rack. The lamb in the image below was cooked rare to medium-rare. Just the way I like it!

Arrange chops on plates; drizzle with pesto. That’s it! This is truly one of the easiest recipes to prepare. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

I love classic French Toast. Growing up it was always a special treat to have French Toast, but my dad would be stuck in the kitchen while we were eating. The idea of a French Toast bake is new to me. It wasn’t until I had a friend’s Overnight French Toast that I even thought of making this type of dish. So, when I saw this Pan Dulce French Toast Bake, I knew it was something I had to try.

The recipe was simple and it keeps you out of the kitchen and with your friends and family. It would be a great dish for Easter brunch or whenever you might have friends or family for brunch. The toast was crispy at the top and had a cake like consistency in the middle. The coffee and cinnamon combination was perfect, giving it almost a coffee cake taste. It was so flavorful, you don’t even need to add syrup (although it’s quite delicious with NESTLÉ LA LECHERA Dulce de Leche if you want a decadent treat).

If you’re new to the French Toast Bake, try this one out. You’ll be glad you did!

About a month ago our local newspaper published all the locations in our area for a weekly Friday Night Fish Fry. I could not believe the number of them — literally hundreds — and some have been going on for more than 3 decades! Other publications I found help search them out by providing the type of fish and side dishes served, whether alcohol is available, credit cards taken, etc. Until a few years ago, I had not gone to many despite growing up very close to the Atlantic Ocean and now near one of the Great Lakes. How could this be?! Thank goodness one of my girlfriends straightened me out. She has made the Friday Night Fish Fry a get-together time that we look forward to every year.

HEAT oil in large, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add fillets; cook for 4 to 5 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. (Thicker fillets may take longer to cook.) Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with Creamy Carnation Tartar Sauce and lemon wedges.

TIPS:

For Tartar Sauce with a kick, add hot pepper sauce to taste.

If your quick-cooking oats are large in size, they can be processed to a smaller size in a blender or food processor.